Pitch mix key to Mikolas' strong rebound start against Pirates

PITTSBURGH -- Miles Mikolas showed that one of his rockiest starts of his career was just a blemish, as he rebounded to produce a strong start in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. However, a fifth inning full of traffic on the basepaths proved to be enough to keep Mikolas out of the win column, and the Cardinals eventually fell to the Pirates, 5-4, in 10 innings at PNC Park.

Mikolas was stingy through four innings, allowing only two baserunners on a single by Bryan Reynolds in the first inning and a leadoff knock to Rowdy Tellez in the second. His pitch mix kept the Pirates off balance, as three of their four strikeouts through four innings were looking, and he induced a lot of weak ground-ball contact after the first inning, when two of his three outs were liners to left field.

But in the fifth, Tellez -- who was on the basepaths throughout the game -- led off with a single, and Nick Gonzales followed with a single and advanced to second on the throw from right field to third base, which deflected off Tellez and allowed him to reach third safely. It’s a tough predicament for a pitcher like Mikolas, who has a 6.44 strikeouts per nine innings rate and often sees his outs through contact.

That’s how Mikolas got the next two outs, and so both were RBIs: a groundout by Ke’Bryan Hayes and a sacrifice fly from Joey Bart.

“We had some good at-bats, selfless at-bats between [Hayes] and [Bart] driving in runs, giving us the lead. It's always easier to play with a lead,” Tellez said. “When you look at those things, I don't think Mikolas pitched a bad game. I think we just took advantage of some things."

Mikolas came back out for the sixth, and he gave up another leadoff hit, this time a double by Andrew McCutchen. But he was aided by a routine run-saver in the Cardinals’ outfield: rookie Michael Siani, whose 12 Outs Above Average ranked second in the Majors coming into Wednesday.

Oneil Cruz, who hit the walk-off knock in the 10th, stung a ball to center field just to the right of where Siani was positioned. But the center fielder got a great jump and laid out to convert a catch with a 60% catch probability -- a three-star catch, per Statcast.

“I just see Mike on his horse, and as soon as he left his feet, I said, ‘Shoot, he’s going to catch it,’” Mikolas said. “If he leaves his feet, he’s going to catch that ball.”

“That play, not many center fielders get to,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “His first step was really, really good. He continues to just save runs left and right, so having him in center has been a really good thing for us.”

Overall, Mikolas finished with six innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked none and struck out four.

“I thought he did a nice job. He gave up two there after we scored, but held it together and gave us a shot, for sure,” Marmol said. “I thought he filled up the zone well, and it looked like the guy that we’d seen quite a bit this year.”

The performance was a far cry from Mikolas’ previous outing. On Thursday at home, Mikolas allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on 12 hits in a 4 1/3-inning start against the Reds. And it wasn’t just one bad inning; Cincinnati scored a run or more in all five innings he appeared in. After the game, he called it “a bad day to stink.”

In that start, Mikolas left a bunch of pitches over the heart of the plate, and the Reds didn’t miss them. On Wednesday, he was much more spread out through the zone, which was set up by solid fastball command, and it made it easier to put hitters in the hole and prevent big cuts.

He also executed well with two strikes, placing fastballs outside of comfortable hitting zones and keeping hitters off the barrel.

It’s clearly a building block for Mikolas, who has a 5.19 ERA this season in 18 starts.

“I think I mixed my speeds well in certain counts and cleaned up my arm path a little bit,” Mikolas said. “I felt like I was staying a little more directional to the plate, and maybe had like a little bit of extra sneakiness to it. Maybe hiding that ball behind me better, not opening up too soon. But I felt like I had one of my better fastballs this year as far as my outings go.”